At 92 years old, Kathy August is the oldest member of Kolot Chayeinu! She first visited Kolot as an assignment to visit a bunch of different synagogues for an Intro to Judaism course she was taking at the time. She was blown away by her visit to Kolot, as it was so much different from all the other synagogues she visited. Kathy worked as a high school English teacher for many years before working as a grant writer for the Department of Education in NYC, and she is now long retired. She is very family oriented and enjoys spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. An important memory to Kathy of Kolot was on 9/11, not long after she became a member, when Kolot called her personally to check up on her and make sure she was okay. That demonstration of community and care really assured Kathy that she had found the right place to take part in Jewish community. Three words Kathy would use to describe herself to a potential interviewer are “I’m not old.”

In this interview, Kathy August tells her story of finding Kolot the transformation from part of an intellectual retiree pursuit in her 70s to a life-saving community. She describes the growth she has experienced in her Jewishness growing up in a family that was not secretive about their Jewishness but had fully ‘assimilated.’ Kathy explains how Kolot maintained a sense of community following catastrophic events like 9/11, which occurred only a few months after she had joined. She powerfully discusses how Shabbat services on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic ‘kept her alive’ and how more broadly, Kolot connects her to what’s important in the world. Kathy describes Kolot as a place for everyone.

“Zoom kept me alive”

“September 11th”

“Connects Me to the World”

“Room for everyone”